X Rebirth relaunches as X Rebirth 2.0

Posted By: Peter ParrishMay 20, 2014

A pretty clear admission that the original release was a bit rubbish.

Six months on from an awful launch, X Rebirth is effectively being relaunched as X Rebirth 2.0. If you already own the game on Steam, it should automatically patch and update to the latest version. This is the official roll-out for the 2.0 beta we reported on last week.

It’s too early to say whether this re-launch will salvage the reputation of the game, but it’s clear that Egosoft has been working hard to get X Rebirth back into reasonable shape. 2.0 adds a substantial list of features to the title, including new game-starts, improved combat, different cockpit configurations and enhanced graphics. Whether it improves on the rather sub-standard performance of the original launch remains to be seen.

Here’s a new trailer, followed by a full list of changes in X Rebirth 2.0. The game is currently half off on Steam, but I’d be very hesitant about taking up that offer until players report back about the functionality of this update.

• New Feature: Three new gamestarts, each with a new cockpit configuration. • New Feature: Rebalanced combat with three difficulty settings. • New Feature: Additional commands for your ships. • New Feature: Autopilot can fly your ship while you are busy. • New Feature: All new highway flight model. • New Feature: Most tasks can now be performed without landing on stations. • New Feature: Full screen HUD detail monitor option. • New Feature: Clicks on event monitor now open relevant menus. • New Feature: Map/radar on event monitor. • New Feature: New ships in Omicron Lyrae. • New Feature: Huge new Xenon ship. • New Feature: Four new missile types. • New Feature: Improved graphics for an even more beautiful universe. • New Feature: New graphics options and presets. • New Feature: New start menu scene. • New Feature: New Steam achievements. • Added support for up to 8 input devices (now even your pet octopus can get the most from the game). • Added option to buy replacement player ship cockpit layout from certain traders. • Added shield damage for collisions. • Improved responsiveness of main menu and dialogs. • Improved event monitor with more space for important information. • Improved positioning of interface elements in first person mode. • Improved production logic now skips products where the station has too much stock. • Fixed gamepad mode switching on when axis has non-zero value while at rest. • Fixed problem with wrecked state of ship/station surface elements not always being loaded from savegames correctly. • Fixed collectable objects not showing a target element. • Fixed gates not showing a target element. • Fixed info points not being displayed at drone launch pads. • Fixed cases where clicking on larger targets didn’t work. • Fixed rare instance of mission objective bar being stuck on screen. • Fixed text field not being reset when closing and reopening trade menu. • Fixed problems with overlapping/truncated text on first person event monitor. • Fixed cases resulting in jumping target elements. • Fixed incorrect text in certain conversations. • Fixed icon size in licence encyclopedia entry. • Fixed distance sorting in trade menu. • Fixed capital ships becoming invisible when boosting while player is close. • Fixed cases where build icons were displayed without a builder ship in the player squad. • Fixed missing trade offers for architects with no money. • Fixed rare case of missing target elements (usually build locations or player owned cap ships). • Fixed cases where targeting objects using gamepad/joystick controls did not work correctly. • Fixed trade restrictions menu getting stuck. • Fixed several causes of occasional crashes. • Various optimisations resulting in small performance improvements.

Acknowledgements

Thanks to Jonathan “MAD Joker” Ziller whose NESA mod was a major source of inspiration for our version of the functionality to allow most tasks to be performed without landing on stations.